Method of picking fowl



1957 R. D. PITTS ET AL METHOD OF PICKING FOWL 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb. 21, 1955 15, 1957 R. D. PITTS ETAL 2,777,159

METHOD OF PICKING FOWL Original Filed Feb. 21, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmvron 1957 R. D. PITTS ETAL METHOD OF PICKING FOWL Original Filed Feb. 21, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 15, 1957 R. D. PITTS ET AL 2,777,159

METHOD OF PICKING FOWL Original Filed Feb. 21, 1955 4 sheets sheet 4 UW/v 1 13/ G. 5

a5 a2 a4 WT 7 I a INVENTOR. FL OUR/VOV CORE) 2= ROB/5R7" Q P7775 aim/way United States Patent METHOD OF PICKING FOWL Original application February 21, 1955, Serial No.

489,468. Divided and Serial No. 596,020

2 Claims. c1. 17 4s this application July 5, 1956 This invention relates to poultry processing equipment andhas particular relation to a new and novel defeathering machine. This is a division of United States application Serial No. 489,648, filed February 21, 1955.

In poultry defeathering or picking machines known to the art, it is customary to employ a drum with substantially radially projecting fingers and to rotate this drum and apply the birds to the fingers to remove the feathers. In other words, only one set of rotating fingers is employed at any one time.

It is one of the objects of our invention, however, to employ a stationary set of fingers or rubbing members as well as a rotating set of rubbing members, and to so organize the members and position the bird that both the stationary and rotating rubbing members are effective in removing the feathers.

Another primary object of our invention is to provide a means and method of defeathering poultry in which the bird is moved and applied to stationary fingers to effect removal of the feathers in contrast to methods usually employed. I

More specifically, it is an object of our invention to move one or more birds against the inner ends of stationary frictional feather engaging members arranged peripherally about and extending inwardly from a generally cylindrical enclosure. This has as an object to provide a considerably greater working surface of the defeathering members, or in other words, a greater number of picking fingers, in contact with the body of each bird. It also permits a number of birds to be applied to the defeathering members simultaneously.

Another important object of our invention is to provide a new and novel system of removing feathers in which the rotating member may be maintained in rotation and the birds removed from the machine by timed releasing means.

and relation of the supporting legs and the motor mounting.

Figure 5 is a view in front elevation of the control mechanism for timing the dressing operation and releasing the door at the conclusion of a selected time.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the electric circuit employed for the control apparatus shown in Figure 5, and

Figure 7 is a view in perspective of the latch and latch actuating and release mechanism, shown in Figures 1, 3 and 5.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 for the present; a device constructed according to a preferred embodiment of our invention includes a cylindrical main body or tub 16, preferably supported on three legs 11, which legs are mounted on and secured to the inner wall of the cylinder, and which flare slightly outwardly, as illustrated, for better support of the machine.

The legs 11 are attached to a pair of rings 12 and 13 which form reinforcements for the lower portion of the cylinder 10. Three radially positioned support arms at the bottom of the cylinder, as indicated at 14, and at the top of the cylinder, as indicated at 16, support the large diameter tube 17 in which a smaller bearing tube 18 is located. Inside of this tube is a circular platform or disc shaft or drive shaft 19 at the upper end of which the disc or circular platform 21 is mounted. A drive pulley 22 is also mounted on the drive shaft 19, and this drive pulley 22 is driven by means of the pulley 23 of the driving motor 24 through the agency of the belt 26. The shaft 19 is supported for free rotation'in the bearing tube by the sleeve bearings located at 27 and thrust bearing at 28.

The disc or circular platform 21 preferably has a down-turned flange at 31 for stiffness and also is provided with a vertically adjustable guard 32 extending upwardly in cylinder form and preferably spaced from the upper face of the disc 21. This guard 32 is provided for the purpose of preventing the legs, head and neck of the fowl from being caught between the disc and the side wall of Y the member 10, and it is made adjustable vertically on Another object of our invention is to provide a new and novel timing and releasing mechanism for poultry processing equipment such as poultry picking machines.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to, those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specifications, wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding, however, that such changes may be made thereinas fall within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention,

In said drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a poultry defeathering device constructed in accordance with one embodiment of our invention. i

Figure 2 is-a View in vertical section of the machine shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the interior of the tub of the machine shown in Figure 1, with the door in opened posi- .tion and the topremoved.

Figure 4 is a view in horizontal section of the lower portion of the machine and illustrating the drive shaft the brackets 33 so as to vary the width of the slot 34. This slot 34 permits feathers and water etc. to escape from the disc as it is rotated.

The disc is provided with a plurality of vertical or upwardly projecting rubbing members which may take the form of the fingers 36, or may be in the form of flanged paddles or the like which will rub the bird and throw it outwardly against the stationary fingers 41, 42, and 43 by centrifugal force.

These inwardly projecting rubbing or fowl engaging members 41, 42 and 43 are provided on the inside of the upper portion of the cylinder, and these rubbing members also furnish rubbing and picking action tothe birds deposited within the cylinder. For simplicity, fewer stationary fingers are shown than may actually be used. It is also to be noted that in the embodiment shown, the top row of fingers 43 are larger than the other fingers of the machine.

We preferably provide means for directing a water spray through the center of the machine and down the walls, as illustrated at 44, and water for this ring reaches the ring through the hose connection 46.

The upper end of the machine preferably is covered by means of the annular member or shelf 47 which has an opening 48 therein at the center thereof, and which preferably slopes inwardly to the center as illustrated in order to direct the birds and the water from them into the machine.

The birds may be removed from the machine from the top by hand or by any suitable mechanism, but we preferably provide a curved door, illustrated at 51, for this purpose. This door is hinged, as at 52, and is latched in closed position by means of a latch 53. A spring 52a is provided to urge the door into a normally open position. This door may be opened or unlatched manually or may be controlled by a timing mechanism to open automatically after a timed interval, as will be described later.

We preferably provide a chute, such as illustrated at 43, and this chute may have a retarder plate, illustrated at 56, for retarding discharge movement of the birds from the chute. It is also provided with a bumper, as illustrated at 57, so that when the door swings open, the movement of the door is checked by the bumper.

The latch mechanism is better shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 and is partially contained in a water-proof box 70. The mechanism includes a vertically movable bar 71 which is guided by means of two guide plates 72 and 73 which have openings thercthrough to permit the rod to slide up and down therein, and the rod is provided with a sloping front face, as illustrated at 74,50 that when the latch bar 76 slides into the recess afforded by the striker plate 77, and the guide 73, the holding bar will be lifted. The latch bar pushes the holding bar 71 up until the latch bar is in engaged position and the holding bar 71 thereupon drops behind the latch bar to hold the door closed. The member 78 is a knob attached to the end of the latch bar 76. It should be here noted that, during automatic operation, the sloping front face 74 has no function, since the holding bar is normally up when the door is closed.

The holding bar 71 may be raised by the solenoid 79 and actuation of this solenoid is accomplishedby means of the timer, illustrated at 81, which is a single cycle automatic-reset interval timer; 4 other timing devices might be used. When the selected interval of time has expired, a contact is closed within the timer in accordance with the construction of such well known devices, and the electrical circuit is completed through the solenoid 79 to raise the holding bar 71 and thus release the door. The door is spring loaded, as illustrated at 52a, so that it immediately swings outwardly and the centrifugal motion of the birds causes them to ,be discharged through the door and into the chute 54.

The switch 82 serves to disconnect the entire control circuit from the power supply when the device. is not in operation, and the signal light 83 indicates whether or not the circuit is operative. To recycle the timer for repetitive, we have provided a plunger actuated switch 84. A spring loaded right angle lever 85 is positioned in the. control box adjacent this switch. Extending downwardly from this lever is a rod 86 which includes an outwardly extending ear 87. When the door is closed, the car 87 is struck by the latch bar 76, which turns the rod and lever 85, closing the switch and thereby recycling the timer 81.

In operation, the birds are sealed in any well known manner and the door of the picker is closed. This actuates the timing mechanism 81 which is set for any desired number of seconds of operation. During the timed operating period, the solenoid is de-energized and the holding bar 71 is dropped, which latches the door in its closed position.

After a lapse say of 18 seconds, or any selected time interval, the actuating circuit of the timer 81 will be closed to energize the solenoid 79, and the solenoid 79 will raise the holding bar 71 to its upper position, releasing the latch bar 76 and permitting the door to swing open.

In operating the machine, as soon as the door has been rubbing members.

closed, the scalded birds are immediately dropped, one or several at a time, according to the capacity of the machine, into the interior of the machine. The rotating rubbing members will impart a spinning motion to the birds which will, by centrifugal force, throw and force the birds toward the outer periphery of the spinning member and against the inwardly projecting stationary The spinning motion imparted by the upwardly projecting rubbing members also causes the birds to be carried around inside the device, during which action the radially projecting or stationary rubbing members also rub the birds as they tend to be carried around by the bottom rubbing members. The result is that the free rotation of the birds is prevented, and both sets of rubbing members are effective to rub all portions of the birds evenly and remove the feathers.

The feathers are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and strike the inner wall of the cylinder and are floated down along the wall by the fiowof water from the pipe 44, to be dischargedon the floor beneath the machine.

After the birds have been rotated in this manner a predetermined length of time, determined and selected by the operator, the curved door is opened, as previously stated, and the birds are discharged into the chute where they may then fall-into a cooling tank or onto a rack or the like as desired.

The picking action is remarkably complete in a short period of time, and pin feathers and even wing feathers are removed, almost completely if not completely. A much greater picking surface is utilized than in the pickers known in the art;

Although we have described a specific embodiment of our invention, it is apparent that modifications thereof may be made by those skilled in the art. Such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A method of picking fowls which comprises continuously maintaining feathered fowl on a horizontally extending annular plane by gravitational force, continuously applying a force to the lower surface of said fowl tending to convey said fowl freely and continuously in a circular path over said annular plane, applying intermittent forces to said fowl in a direction opposite to the forward path of movement thereof and at a point above the lower surface thereof which tend to retard the forward movement of the fowl in said circular path intermittently, and simultaneously cause the fowl to revolve, said continuously applied fowl-conveying force tending to scrape each surface of the fowl to which said force is applied as the same revolves during only the time the forward movement of said fowl is retarded to remove feathers from the surface thereof scraped, and continually applying said forces to said fowl until the feathers have been completely removed therefrom.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said intermittently applied forces are withdrawn along a portion of said annular plane, after the expiration of a predetermined period of time, to permit said continuously applied fowl-conveying force to move defeathered fowl substantially tangentially away from said annular plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,096.038 Kramer May 12, 1914 2,472,468 Digby June 7. 1949 2,754,5 9. Toti July 11, 1956 

